Greenville keeps pressure on Belding

It was the big rivalry Friday night at Rudness Field with Belding taking on Greenville in non-conference girls soccer action.

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By John Raffel Special to the Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Ionia Sentinel - Standard-Ionia, MI

By John Raffel Special to the Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Posted May. 10, 2013 at 10:21 PM
Updated May 10, 2013 at 10:41 PM

By John Raffel Special to the Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Posted May. 10, 2013 at 10:21 PM
Updated May 10, 2013 at 10:41 PM

BELDING, Mich.

It was the big rivalry Friday night at Rudness Field with Belding taking on Greenville in non-conference girls soccer action.

But the Yellow Jackets had too much firepower and scored a 5-0 victory over the Redskins.

Greenville bolted out to a 4-0 lead by halftime.

Greenville put the pressure on the Belding net and goalkeeper Briana VanderPloeg as soon as the game started. Megan O'Brien kicked in the Jackets' first goal at 37:54. Rachel Taft scored a minute later on a rebound. With 21:39 left in the half, the Redskins were unable to clear the ball out in front of the net and Greenville made them pay with Heather Lake scoring for a 3-0 lead. The Belding offense started to penetrate better in the Yellow Jacket zone, but wasn't able to get key shots on net.

With two minutes left in the half, Samantha Herron put the ball in the net for Greenville for the 4-0 advantage.

"We had a good start and kept up the pressure during the course of the game," said Greenville coach Chris Hamman. "I thought we controlled the middle of the field a lot and made some nice passes."

Sarah Brown was in net for Greenville, but her team kept the ball away from her for the most part.

VanderPloeg continued to make key saves for Belding in the second half as the Yellow Jackets applied the pressure and scored their fifth goal at the 35:19 mark. Sarah Wierda put in the fifth goal for Greenville.

The Redskins were able to exert some more offense midway in the second half as Joesi Kreiger and Mari Gilde both took shots that went wide or over the net. But the ball usually was in Belding's end with Greenville constantly putting the Redskins on the defensive.

"We played an entirely different second half than the first half," said Belding coach Blaine Kemme. "One of the things I told them before the match was that the intensity of play is what we needed. In the first half we were a little lacking. In the second half, everyone stepped it up. You could see the difference in the score."

VanderPloeg, with her excellent goalkeeper play, continued to make precision saves and keep Belding in the game.

It was her third game as goalie for Belding and she had 15 saves.

"Because of changes in team members, Briana stepped up and asked if she could be keeper," Kemme said. "I can't express how thankful I am she was willing to do that and the great job she's been doing. She's done a great job on the field, too."

This, VanderPloeg said, was her best game of the three.

"You have to watch the ball the entire game," she said. "It could go anywhere. I'm learning a lot, especially from my team. We came together more in the second half as a unit."'

Page 2 of 2 - Belding fell to 3-10 and is home Monday against Allendale.

"We need to do more of what we did in the second half," VanderPloeg said. "We have to stay as a unit, work hard and keep pushing."